Reasons for being atheist.

I have read many reasons why people are atheist on here. What has begun to bother me is many people's justification for their atheist point of view is not based on logic. Many seem to be coming from a place of anger then they attach theists for their injustices. Injustice is not mutually exclusive to religion. I think people should move past that and get their views from sound examination of facts and fiction. I don't believe there is a God for one reason and one reason only. I have no proof of his existence and the inconsistencies about who and what he is. I am not Atheist because of the flaws to religious institutions. To me that puts you in a very weak and shaky place. What do each of you think?

Hmm it might seem that some of us are angry but i'm quite sure most are real atheists that have examined the evidence or lack thereof and concluded there is no god.

As to the being angry part i think it's more frustration with christians and religious people in general, they seem so thickheaded and never seem to listen to reason even when you show them all the evidence.

And they tell us atheists that without god we have no morals and that hitler and stalin were atheists even though they weren't, lumping us together with 2 of the biggest mass murderers of the past just to show us how evil atheists are.

And one of the biggest reason to be frustrated with religious people is that they try to get special treatment above all others, Like wanting creationism being tought in school, prayers in school, children being indoctrinated from birth, the current anti-science movement is a very big concern of mine.

Also the part about being treated as a second class citizen when you tell your an atheist doesn't sit well with me.

So yes, i am frustrated that in the 21st century most people on this planet are still believing in a bronze age book that teaches nothing but ignorance and keeps people from using their brain.

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"Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a God superior to themselves. Most Gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child. – Robert A Heinlein"

There is only one real reason for being an atheist: the fact that there isn't enough evidence to prove that any god exists. You can't have any other reasons for being an atheist, but you can have a lot of reasons for being against religion in general, or a religion in particular, or against religious people, or one in particular, you can have a lot of reasons for being against a god - but then you are not an atheist anymore, because, if you have something against something that you say doesn't exist, then what the hell are you? Certainly not an atheist, not anymore. If you are an atheist because you think gods are mean and only like to play with their creatures, that's not being an atheist, that's just being against a god, not denying that any god exists. That's how I see things regardin reasons for being an atheist, and the only reason why I'm an atheist is because there isn't enough evidence to prove that any god exists. I am angry, but I am angry with religion and with religious people in general for being so close-minded and keep the delusion alive, but those reasons can't be attributed to atheism. Whoever claims other reasons for being an atheist, is not really an atheist.

People should not confuse the various ways of opening your eyes and realize that it is all bullshit with actual reason(s) for not believing something exists. The only reason to not believe something exists is the lack of evidence to support that that particular thing does exist.

Show me an atheist that hasn't been hurt or insulted by religious people. Show me an atheist that hasn't seen total hypocrisy , anti-intellectualism and disbelief in science. Show me an atheist that didn't become an atheist because of one or more of those issues. I know that atheism is the default position, but the vast majority of people were on the receiving end of religious brainwashing to some degree at one point or another. Religion is a MVP ( memetic viral problem)-not most valuable player! We aren't atheists because we love the religious.

I was not hurt or insulted by religious people. Hypocrisy is a human condition. Biologically we need to be part of a group and my church really wasn't anti-intellectual and really did believe in science. I did not become an athiest because of those issues.

I gradually realized my atheism and then felt like a hypocrit for going to chruch and stopped.

I know others have more unhappy experiences but your argument is not logical as you are generalizing.

Atheism has nothing to do with religion. By calling yourself an atheist, you only say that you don't believe any god exists, not that you are against religion (and all related products) and what it has done for thousands of years. So, the only reason to not believe any god exists is the lack of evidence supporting their existence. The series of events that got you to be an atheist is a completely different thing. I was angry with my father, a religious nut - not the only reason I was angry, and I was bored, so I tried to find something to do to fill my free time, and I find, amongst other things, religion. I started reading here and there, and then I found Think Atheist, and I began to read the Wiki you can find here which was really helpful and I started to see that all I've been told so far was bullshit, and since then I read all I can about religion and I try to inform myself. So, that's the way I became an atheist, not the reason why I am an atheist. The reason why I am an atheist is because, so far, I haven't found any evidence to support the existence of any god. There is a big difference between the two.

In the beginning (of my life), "God" created my father. He saw my father as being in "His" image, and said he was good.

My father, who guided our young family based on his outwardly fervent religious belief, relied on his misguided belief in Christian god's forgiveness while he emotionally abused me, and also sexually molested me from the age of nine, until I was seventeen.

My earliest sense that there is no god was absolutely an emotional/anger response to those experiences. But I kept trying to believe - WANTING to believe there was a being out there that would help me as an adult to deal with the devastating effects of incest. But as years went on while I prayed, cried and screamed to God for help even as a child, I began to have serious doubts that this deity had any interest in my pain.

In the forty or so years since, I took a long, hard intellectual look at my religious beliefs using rationality instead of emotionality. What finally cemented my atheistic views about three years ago was reading Why Won't God Heal Amputees?

The incest by my father indirectly laid the groundwork for years of depression and increasingly severe social anxiety disorder. This disorder, in itself, leaves me terribly isolated with no support system to speak of. In addition, most of my family has died. I am left with a brother who is 'highly' religious, and who supported my father, both spiritually and emotionally, until the day he died despite what my father did to me (and to others).

I do apologize if this sounds like a 'sob story', but it's difficult not to mention such unpleasant things when explaining how I came to a rational stance on religion.

I have had the thought that perhaps also indirectly, the silver lining of what I experienced as a child is that I'm now a rational person - at least when it comes to religious belief.

Still, in the past few years, I have been dealing with depression at a level of suicidal ideation. I am in desperate in need of an occasional (I promise) outlet for my pain, as well as camaraderie with those who feel as I do about religious belief. I've sought out, and participated a number of atheist forums, but after having studied this one quite a bit today, it seems like the friendliest, most welcoming one.

And I have already cast my vote at About.com (even though I'm also a member of Atheist Nexus)!